New Gatwick scheme helps Crawley unemployed find jobs

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Published:14:47Tuesday 26 June 2018

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Fourteen unemployed residents from Crawley and Croydon have completed London Gatwick’s new programme to help them gain employment at the airport, primarily in baggage handling and retail based roles, while a further four people are currently awaiting final interviews.

The ‘One Destination Employability’ programme provides a three-week course for candidates to gain general skills and training required to work for one of the many employers based at the airport.

The course also includes completing skill based volunteering with the airport’s charity partner St Catherine’s Hospice and some extra modules delivered by the Gatwick Airport training team.

Gatwick has partnered with local job centres, Employ Crawley and Croydon Works to select suitable candidates for the programme who are then enrolled onto the course which is made up of modules chosen by a pool of employers. These cover everything from working as a team to time management and health & wellbeing in the workplace.

On completion of the programme candidates are awarded a Level 1 certificate in Employability from the Northern Council for Further Education (NCFE), which is a nationally recognised qualification. Further courses are also being launched for residents in West Kent and Brighton in the coming months.

Gatwick Airport and other businesses on the Gatwick campus directly generate £1.6 billion in the local economy and 24,000 jobs.

The airport’s impact in the Gatwick Diamond area – including supply chain activity and spending in the local area - rises to £2.3 billion and 36,000 jobs. This is around 10% of the total economic activity in the Gatwick Diamond area, and one in every 12 jobs.

Gatwick’s employment and skills programme also includes headline sponsorship of this year’s Big Bang Fair South East in Ardingly on June 27 and 28. The event is the UK’s biggest regional celebration of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) to help raise its status as an aspirational career path among young people.

Gatwick’s Head of Community Engagement, Alison Addy, said: “We are pleased to have helped a number of local people get back into full time employment and provide them with the skills necessary to succeed in a career at Gatwick.

“As one of the largest employers in the region, Gatwick is fully committed to providing the job opportunities and training required for a wide range of roles at the airport.”